Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

Zhu Gaochi came to Duke Dingguo's mansion worriedly. The juice he loved so much in the past was a bit boring now.

"Teacher, it's been two days, and there's still not a single caravan or convoy going to the straight road!"

"Not urgent!"

Guo An smiled lightly, looking very confident.

Zhu Gaochi said again: "Teacher, I heard that the merchants in the capital are gathering with each other and are noisy and clamoring not to walk on the concrete straight road!"

"Merchant?"

Guo An glanced at Zhu Gaochi in surprise, "Your Highness, let alone the benefits of the straight road for merchants to transport goods, even if His Majesty allows merchants to have the right to inform unscrupulous officials and gentry, they would not dare to make such a noise."

"If there are such merchants, it can only be said that they are people from the houses of powerful people or gentry, not pure merchants...

Moreover, His Highness may have forgotten that the auction house, newspaper residence, maritime trade chamber of commerce, and Jiangjunshan Workshop, the merchants of these chambers of commerce in our hands can completely dominate more than half of the merchants of the Ming Dynasty..."

"Teacher's intention?"

Zhu Gaochi's face became happy.

Guo Andao said: "Your Highness might as well wait a day or two...perhaps those merchants are not ready yet!"

"So that's how it is!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded thoughtfully.

However, there was still some worry in his eyes.

That cement straight road cost a lot of money. If it cannot be recovered within three or four years, and the money spent on the other cement straight roads is spent, the palace will really have no money left.

Guo An added: "If Your Highness is still worried, you might as well go for a walk on the street or go to the city wall to check the condition of the straight road!"

"Go and see the straight road?"

Zhu Gaochi was a little moved.

"teacher……"

Guo An's eyes were slightly opened. Could he go to see a straight road and drag him along? What’s so cool about breaking a straightaway?

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

At this time, a young man, led by people from the Guo Mansion, ran in from the door, his face full of joy.

Seeing Zhu Gaochi and Guo An, they saluted hurriedly.

"Guo Gang has met His Highness and Duke Dingguo!"

Guo An nodded slightly. The young man in front of him seemed to be the eleventh son of Wuding Marquis Guo Ying.

Even though Wu Dinghou is already over sixty years old and is considered an old man, this old man is very capable of giving birth to children. He has twelve sons and six daughters, which can be regarded as directly giving birth to a lot of blood for Wuding Hou's lineage.

Zhu Gaochi asked: "Guo Gang, what do you have to report?"

Guo Gang hurriedly said: "Your Highness, good news, there is a large caravan on the straight road!"

"Really?"

Zhu Gaochi stood up immediately and stared at the young man closely.

"Guo Gang, there is really a caravan on the straight road. How many carriages are there?"

Guo Gang hurriedly replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, it seems to be a caravan composed of six southern merchants heading to Liangzhou. Adding up the large and small carriages, there are a total of 180 carriages!"

"so much?"

Zhu Gaochi's eyes widened immediately, and then he murmured to himself with a happy face: "One hundred and eighty cars came from the capital to Liangzhou, wouldn't this time we can directly collect... more than seven hundred taels of silver?"

Guo Gang also said with a happy face: "Your Highness is wise, it is exactly 716 taels of silver!"

"Very good!"

Zhu Gaochi looked at Guo An.

"teacher……"

"more than!"

Guo An slowly shook his head, "Your Highness, you haven't calculated the money spent on these one hundred and eighty carriages and the inns where they will stay on the road!"

"What the teacher said is absolutely true!"

Zhu Gaochi's face became happy again.

Guo An continued: "In addition, they will definitely return to the capital from Liangzhou, which will double their money..."

"This……"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Teacher, in this way, just this caravan can allow Zhidao to take back at least more than two thousand taels?"

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded slowly.

"Your Highness, there are only six caravans. How many merchants and gentry there are in our Ming Dynasty..."

Sure enough, my father was right. This Duke Dingguo was the most suitable for business. He was simply the reincarnation of the God of Wealth!

Guo Gang glanced at Guo An strangely, and then reported again: "Your Highness, the general also saw that there are many merchants in the capital, and they are also preparing to go to the straight road together!"

"Ok?"

Zhu Gaochi's eyes widened instantly, "Are there any businessmen who want to walk on the cement straight road?"

"Exactly!"

Guo Gang nodded heavily.

Zhu Gaochi turned his head instantly, looked at Guo An, and invited.

"Teacher, you can come with me to watch such a grand event!"

"Go and see the straight road?"

Guo An's brows straightened up.

"Exactly!"

Zhu Gaochi turned a blind eye to Guo An's reluctance and looked excited.

"Teacher, the cement straight road is the most practical thing that I, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, have done for the people of the Ming Dynasty. I want to see if those merchants really like the straight road, or are they forced to..."

"it is good!"

Guo An responded directly.

"Thank you teacher!"

……

Half an hour later.

Zhu Gaochi and Guo An were already standing in a house next to the entrance of the straight road, looking quietly at the entrance of the straight road through the glass.

The soldiers and stewards who were originally sitting in the house to rest, withdrew with panic on their faces. Those who were patrolling and standing guard to entertain merchants stood straight outside.

For those merchants, all of them had gentle faces.

"Thank you all!"

I have never encountered soldiers who treated them so gently, and all the merchants looked flattered.

After driving the carriage onto the straight road, everyone's faces were full of excitement and excitement.

"Your Highness, these merchants don't seem to have any reluctance!"

In the house, after looking at three caravans in a row, even Guo Gang could tell.

Those merchants were not as angry as those who were noisy on the street and refused to go straight.

Most of them were full of curiosity and excitement.

"Ok!"

Zhu Gaochi was also completely relieved.

"The straight road is wide and flat, which can at least save these merchants a few days of work without worrying about any danger. The time saved is enough to make up for the tolls they paid!"

"What His Highness said is absolutely true!"

Guo Gang nodded in agreement, "This concrete straight road will benefit the country and the people, and will definitely be praised by people all over the world!"

"Um……"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly, then his expression condensed, and he looked directly at the figures in the distance.

"Guo Gang, who are those people?"

"Ok?"

Guo Gang quickly followed Zhu Gaochi's gaze, and sure enough he saw several sneaky-looking servants standing on the roadside, staring closely at the straight road.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I will send someone to investigate immediately!"

On the side, Guo An said directly: "Your Highness, he should be the capital master, some servants of the palace want to see the situation of the straight road!"

"Some house?"

Zhu Gaochi's expression turned cold, "Teacher, these thieves must have been sent to see my jokes?"

"Maybe!"

Guo An nodded slightly, "However, he obviously disappointed them!"

"What the teacher said is absolutely true!"

Zhu Gaochi's expression softened slightly and he sneered, "With so many merchants heading up the straight road in groups, those people's plans were completely in vain!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

Guo An flattered him casually, then looked straight into the distance, his eyes gradually brightening.

"Your Highness, the convoys from the Chamber of Commerce and Jiangjunshan Workshop are also here!"

"The Chamber of Commerce and the Jiangjunshan Workshop Team?"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned and quickly looked into the distance.

Sure enough, I saw a larger convoy, escorted by a group of strong men, slowly walking over.

The carriages were all decorated with the flags of the Chamber of Commerce and Jiangjunshan Workshop.

"Teacher, where are these convoys going?"

Zhu Gaochi asked curiously.

Guo Andao: "Tatar City!"

"Tatar city?"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment.

"Your Highness, the Tatar City has almost been built. With so many Tatars crowded together, and tens of thousands of our Ming people, the various items consumed every day are huge!"

Guo An explained, "Although this caravan has more than a hundred vehicles, it is not enough. Each state capital along the way will unload a car and wait for it to be transported to the Tatar City. There will not be much left.

Moreover, the price will be much higher, so you can earn a lot! "

"I see!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly.

"A carriage?"

At this time, Guo Gang on the side seemed to have seen something incredible, pointing at the group of carriages, with a look of surprise on his face.

"Guo Gang, what's wrong with this?" Zhu Gaochi looked at Guo Gang doubtfully.

Guo Gang hurriedly said: "Your Highness, this is a four-wheeled carriage... a four-wheeled carriage is much longer than an ordinary two-wheeled carriage, and the cargo it carries will be 50% heavier!

However, the four-wheeled carriage is too heavy, and it is difficult for a horse to pull it, especially around corners, and it is difficult to turn..."

As he spoke, Guo Gang slowly opened his mouth wide with a dull look on his face.

As the motorcade approached, Guo Gang pointed at the carriages outside the house, full of disbelief.

"Your Highness, why...how are these carriages pulled by only one horse, and they are moving so fast?"

"This carriage is supposed to move so fast!"

Zhu Gaochi looked at Guo Gang strangely, "When we were in Beiping Mansion, these carriages were so fast... No, these carriages seemed to be faster than those in Beiping Mansion!"

Zhu Gaochi stared at the carriage for a while again, then turned to look at Guo An aside.

"Teacher, the wheels of these carriages are all rubber tires?"

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded slightly.

"Rubber tires?"

Guo Gang seemed to have heard something incredible, his eyes widened again, "I dare to ask Mr. Ding, but that car has rubber tires with three hundred taels of treasure?"

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded calmly again.

Guo Gang looked at the more than a hundred carriages outside with his mouth agape, with a dull expression on his face.

"One car costs three hundred taels of treasure. So how much do the more than one hundred carriages outside cost?"

Zhu Gaochi also looked at Guo An with surprise.

Guo An just smiled lightly and didn't explain much.

And outside.

The fleet is being registered and road guides are issued.

About a quarter of an hour later, the convoy slowly left.

……

The capital, a large mansion.

In a very large and luxurious main hall, there were several young girls in tulle dancing in the middle.

And all around, there were some middle-aged or old men in gorgeous clothes, sipping fragrant tea and talking with pride on their faces.

"Mr. Zhang, it has been two days now, and no merchants have come to do business on the straight road!"

"Hahaha, as long as no merchant comes in two days, his charges will become a joke!"

"Exactly, who knows, with the silver mines of the Japanese country and the maritime trade chamber of commerce, the internal funds have already accumulated an unknown amount of silver, and how much did it cost him to build a straight road?"

"Hmph, I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince has already sent people to the north to recruit young craftsmen!"

"To build two more concrete straight roads, all will be spent from internal funds. It seems that Your Majesty still has a lot of money in his hands!"

"Everyone, please tell me carefully. No businessman will go to that cement straight road?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhang, forcing him to waive or reduce tolls on the straight road will be of great benefit to all merchants... I have made it very clear. No merchant would want to pay so much in vain every year. That’s a lot of money!”

"Hahaha, in this case, I can take a closer look at how embarrassed they are!"

"It's so clear!"

"Extremely yes, extremely yes!"

"Come here, bring some wine!"

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, an old man who looked like a butler and several healthy servants brought a jar of glass-filled wine and poured it on.

Later, another plate of delicious food was served.

Then a group of girls dressed in tulle came up and sat beside these gentlemen, serving them with flattering faces!

The expressions of everyone became even more excited.

However, before everyone had had a few bites, a servant ran in from outside with a look on his face.

"Ok?"

Seeing this person, Mr. Zhang, who was on the throne, looked happy and asked with some expectancy: "Sangui, how is the situation on the straight road? But it is still the same as the previous two days, there is no trace of a ghost?"

Everyone around them stopped what they were doing and looked at Sangui expectantly.

"Master, something happened!"

Sangui said with an anxious look on his face.

"What happened?"

Zhang Gong asked calmly.

Sangui continued: "Master, there is a caravan going to the cement straight road!"

"what?"

Zhang Gong and all the nobles around him suddenly widened their eyes and stared at the three nobles, some in disbelief.

Zhang Gong asked coldly: "Which caravan is it?"

The people around him all stared at Sangui with anger on their faces.

"Which caravan company accepted the benefits, or was promised something by the Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce, and dared to betray all the merchants in the capital!"

"Huh, let me wait until I find out, and I will definitely uproot the merchants behind the caravan!"

"Let him go bankrupt and unable to afford a carriage!"

Sangui paused for a moment, and said tremblingly, under the gaze of everyone: "Sir, it's not just one caravan, but many caravans... Since the morning, it has been a caravan formed by many merchants, with hundreds of carriages. …

Afterwards, several caravans of various sizes entered the straight road, each with hundreds of carriages..."

There was sudden silence in the entire main hall.

"boom!"

The sound of a dish being smashed.

Zhang Gong said sternly: "Sangui, are you sure you read it correctly?"

"Yeah, how is this possible?"

"You must have read it wrong. Why are there so many merchants rushing to pay tolls?"

"..."

Sangui shuddered, "Sir, I must have seen it right. There are so many convoys and many servants like the villain, they all saw it!"

Mr. Zhang sat down weakly, with a sad smile on his face.

"Hahaha, it turns out that we are the ones being laughed at!"

"I've been waiting for the past few days. I've been jumping up and down like this. I guess in that person's eyes, we are just a bunch of clowns!"

"How dare those merchants become enemies of us?"

"Mr. Zhang, we will definitely not let them go!"

Hearing this, Mr. Zhang sneered, his eyes filled with cold light.

"What you all said is absolutely true. We must not easily let go of those businessmen who do not take us and other merchants into consideration for their own selfish interests!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"..."

evening.

The entire capital has fallen into darkness.

However, inside the palace, it was brightly lit.

Zhu Gaochi held an account book with a happy face and handed it to Zhu Di.

After flipping through a few pages, Zhu Di suddenly felt overjoyed.

"Today, just from the caravans going up from the capital to the straight road, the straight road can collect 2,600 taels of silver?"

"Exactly!"

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly, "Reporting to my father, this is just the toll paid by these caravans when they go there.

When they come back, they will probably have to pay this much.

In addition, if they stay in the inn at night on the straight road, they will also make some money for the straight road..."

Zhu Di's expression narrowed slightly, "So, just the six caravans that went up to the straight road today can pay at least six to seven thousand taels of silver to the straight road?"

"Father Emperor Shengming!"

Zhu Gaochi said with a happy face, "Furthermore, father, when traveling from the capital to Liangzhou, you pass through dozens of state capitals. Just the straight entrance to the capital can be counted as so many taels of silver. The total of these dozens of straight entrances..."

"Can you get one hundred thousand taels?"

Zhu Di's eyes widened instantly and his breathing became a little rapid.

Zhu Gaochi was dumbfounded when he heard this, and said quickly: "Reporting to my father, there shouldn't be so many, right?"

"That won't be any worse!"

Zhu Di looked confident, "What Guo Qing said is right. Although this straight road costs too much in the early stage, as long as it is built, it will be a road to make money every day!"

"In less than two years, you can get your money back. From now on, you can earn millions of taels of silver every year. Guo Qing is really the God of Wealth in the Ming Dynasty!"

"..."

Zhu Gaochi always felt that he could not make so much money, but looking at Zhu Di's excited face, he could only nod slowly.

Zhu Di said again: "Chi'er, this time we are paving the two straight roads from the capital to Yunnan and Sichuan. We don't need to save too much money. Recruit more young and strong craftsmen and try to complete the paving as soon as possible!"

"Yes, Dad!"

Zhu Gaochi responded hurriedly.

The next few days.

Gradually, merchants or pedestrians came to the capital through the straight road from other places.

As a result, there were more pedestrians, caravans, and horses walking on the straight road.

And those voices that clamored and refused to walk straight seemed to have completely dissipated without a trace in the capital, as if they had never been heard before.

The new issue of the Di newspaper also promotes the benefits of cement straight roads.

The most important thing is how much time will be saved on the straight road compared to the ordinary road...

This day.

Guo An also received good news. The sweet potatoes in the Jiangjun Mountain experimental field have sprouted!

...(End of chapter)